The Gamble Read Online Free PDF Page B

Catherine.”
    Lord Henry stared at me. “You are Winterdale’s ward ?”
    “Yes,” I said stonily.
    “And he has actually inveigled Lady Winterdale into presenting you?”
    “Yes,” I said again. “You see, my father left my sister and me virtually penniless, Lord Henry, and consequently I must marry. Lord Winterdale was very kind, and he persuaded his aunt to present me, even though I should technically be in mourning for at least six months.”
    “I wonder how the devil Winterdale managed to do that?” Lord Henry murmured. He answered himself almost immediately. “He must have offered to foot all the bills.”
    I could feel the color flush into my cheeks. “As a matter of fact, he did.”
    Lord Henry grinned. It was a pleasant smile, not wicked, like the smile of another person I could name.
    “I can foresee that we can look forward to a very interesting Season this year,” Lord Henry said lightly. “Ah, Miss Newbury, here is your hackney now. Allow me to assist you inside.”
    Maria went first, and I followed. When once we were established inside, Lord Henry lifted his hand to close the door. Before he did, however, he leaned inside and said, “Allow me to give you a piece of advice, Miss Newbury. Or perhaps I might instead call it a warning. Lord Winterdale is never kind.”
    He withdrew his shoulders from the carriage and closed the door. “Grillon’s,” I heard him tell the driver, and the cab moved off.
    Lord Henry raised his hat to me as the cab went by.
    * * *
    When I walked into the front hall of Grillon’s the desk clerk told me that a message had arrived for me two hours earlier. I took it up to my room and unfolded it there. It read:
    My carriage will call for you tomorrow morning at eight o’clock to take you back to Sussex. Winterdale.
    When I had left Mansfield House this morning I had been vastly annoyed that he had not made any arrangements for my travel. Now I was annoyed that he had made arrangements without consulting me.
    I am usually a very reasonable person. I didn’t know why this man had managed to have such an irritating effect on me, but I told myself that I was going to have to learn to curb my feelings. If I was going to live under the same roof with Lord Winterdale during the two months that the Season lasted, I was going to have to learn to ignore him.
    Unfortunately, he did not seem to be the sort of man it was easy to ignore.
    My return journey to Sussex was far more pleasant than my original journey had been. Lord Winterdale’s coach was well sprung and the velvet squabs inside were deliciously comfortable. The food when we stopped was very different as well: a good soup and fresh fish at one inn and perfectly cooked roast lamb at another. We even had time to finish our meals before we had to get back on the road.
    I had two weeks at home before the letter arrived from Lord Winterdale informing me that his chaise would be arriving in two days’ time to bring me back to Mansfield House in London. Rather to my own surprise, I was relieved to receive the summons. It was becoming increasingly difficult to answer the questions of my friends about Lady Winterdale’s sudden desire to give me a Season.
    Nanny had been shocked because I was not mourning my father.
    Anna was miserable because I was going away again.
    Sir Charles and Lady Stanton were very worried that I was going to be taken advantage of by Lord Winterdale.
    “I will tell you bluntly, Georgie, that he does not have a good reputation,” Sir Charles had told me when I had gone to visit them to impart my news. “He inherited the title a year or so ago after his uncle and his cousin were unexpectedly killed. His own father was a dissolute bounder who dragged him around the cesspots of Europe all the while the boy was growing up. He’s respectable now, of course. Any man with the Winterdale wealth and title would be respectable. But I would not like to see any daughter of mine living under his roof.”
    We were